


Copy and Paste

by SneetchesToo



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Family, Fluff, Future, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: Ethan gets a well deserved surprise on Christmas Eve.
Relationships: Leanne Rorish & Ethan Willis, Leanne Rorish/Ethan Willis
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Copy and Paste

**Author's Note:**

> *This just popped into my head and I went with it. I hope you guys enjoy!

It was Christmas Eve and Ethan felt anything but festive.

He had spent the morning arguing with a moody teen over the fact that she wasn't allowed to go to a friend's house on the most important night of the year.

He had then spent thirty minutes wrestling a cranky eight year old out of bed, the boy demanding that he be allowed to sleep all day since he didn't have school.

And to top it all off he had lost a fight with a toddler over a pair of sparkly pink pants that did not, in any way, go with her Christmas dress.

But he had thought that all would be better when he had arrived at Angels for what was promised to be a short shift.

But then Leanne was in a mood and he had a headache before 10:00am and he was just officially done.

What was supposed to be his second favorite day of the year was turning into his least favorite day of the year.

And he hated it.

\--

Two hours into his shift he had found Leanne fussing into her phone, her eyes hard as she rambled on about obligations and being respectful.

He wondered who she was talking to until he heard her say ‘your father’ and that had been enough to confirm his theory that Ariel would try and pit them against each other when it came to this Christmas Eve thing.

He waited for her to finish the conversation before stepping into her office, the door shutting behind him as he spoke up.

“Why is she insistent on spending the holiday away from us?” He really didn't get it.

Normally Ariel was all about family time and she never tried to get out of their Christmas Eve festivities before.

But that had been before Max and before she ran away.

Before they had spent three months fighting for her.

Before they had brought another life into this world.

Before they had completely rocked hers by combining all their little individual selves into a big house outside the city.

It had been fine at first, things had been going great, but now she was halfway through her junior year of high school and apparently friends were the only thing that mattered.

“She's a teenager Ethan,” the fact that she was remaining so calm was pissing him off just a little, “that's what they do.”

“Gracie won't be like this.” He was damn sure of that.

“You think she's bad at two, just wait.” He would never classify his little angel as bad.

Headstrong, yes.

Determined, yes.

The spitting image of her mother inside and out, yes.

But bad, no, never.

“I just don't understand, she normally loves being with us.” She had been with them for four years now and everything had been great up until this past fall.

“She was with us all summer, remember?” He remembered summer just fine.

They had packed up the kids and headed on a cross country drive.

It had been great and surprisingly not as stressful as everyone had told him it would be.

“So she's tired of us?” He didn't want to think that his oldest daughter was ready to move on yet.

“She's a teenager.” He rolled his eyes at her words, that was only an excuse for so long. 

“I don't like that excuse.” And he didn't, not for his little girl.

“I'm just saying.” She shrugged her shoulders as she rubbed at her eyes and he could tell that she had given up a while ago.

“I'm sorry if I upset you.” He certainly hadn't come looking for a fight, or even to upset her at all.

“You didn't.” She sank down onto the couch on the far wall and closed her eyes.

“Let's just leave.” He huffed out. “Let’s just say ‘fuck it' and go get the kids from dad’s and just start our week off a few hours early.”

“Can we do that?” Her eyes sparkled in the dim light of the room and all he wanted was to lay her down and make love to her all night.

“Sure.” He smiled back at her as she rose from the couch and reached for him. “Campbell's not here. Mario and Noa got this.”

She gave him a skeptical look and he chuckled.

“Shall I call Ed and tell him where he can shove it?” He really didn't want to call the man on the one day of the year he actually took off but he would if he had too.

“Don't disturb him.” She wrapped her arms around his waist gently and pecked him on the lips. “I'll go along with your plan on one condition.”

“What's that?” He let his hands move to her hips, pulling her as close as possible.

“We have an empty house right now…” She didn't need to elaborate because he fully understood where she was going.

“Yes we do.” He winked down at her before leaning in and pressing his lips to her in a searing kiss.

He hoped that this was a sign that the rest of his Christmas would be better than the morning had.

\--

Ethan had taken Leanne home after they successfully snuck out of the hospital and they had made love twice before deciding that it was probably best to rescue the kids from his father.

Or maybe it was his father who needed rescuing after the way those three had been in the morning.

Either way they had arrived just in time to catch Gracie and Eli both trudging down the hall, both looking like they had napped the morning away, and after practically dragging Ariel to the car they had headed home.

The car ride was silent and it was killing Ethan.

Downright killing him.

Normally the kids chatted away or sang along to the music on the radio.

But not today.

No today the three of them sat with miserable looks on their faces, their arms all crossed over their chests as they stared out of their respective windows.

“Okay, that's it.” He was over their attitudes, especially on Christmas of all the days. “I'm pulling this car over if you three don't lose the grumpy faces.”

Leanne shot him a look from the passenger side and he rolled his eyes.

But then he realized that he sounded just like his father and he took a deep breath as he pulled the car over anyway.

He heard a collective moan come from the back seat as he put the Jeep in park and turned around, his eyes searching the faces of his three favorite people.

Ariel finally sighed after a few minutes and dropped her arms.

“We know.” She growled out.

He raised an eyebrow in her direction as he tried to decipher what she was talking about.

“Know what?” He watched as she turned toward Eli, who sighed as well, and he now understood why his parents were always so frustrated. “What do you know?”

“Mooom…” Eli shifted his gaze toward his mother and Ethan sat back in his seat and eyed the woman beside him curiously.

“What are they talking about?” He was in desperate need of answers now and he was frustrated that no one seemed to want to tell him what was going on.

“They're talking about nothing.” Leanne stressed the nothing as she gave off her infamous glare.

But the two just crossed their arms over their chests once again as they locked their eyes with hers.

“Gracie…” He knew the little one couldn't resist his charm. “What's going on with them?”

But she just shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest as well.

“Okay. That's it.” He turned the car off and took the key out of the ignition with a huff. “We're not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on.”

“Just tell him mom!” Ariel whined. “I wanna go home.”

“Please mama, I'm hungry!” Eli joined in on the whining and he watched as Leanne rolled her eyes.

“Hush you two.” She turned back around in her seat, her expression never changing as she grabbed the key from Ethan and stuck it back in the ignition. “Go home Ethan.”

He let out a sigh before turning back around and putting the car in drive, pulling back out onto the road and heading toward the house once more.

\--

They had driven the rest of the way in silence and when they were about two minutes from the house Gracie finally spoke up.

“Mama? Will the new baby get presents from Santa too?” He had almost slammed on the breaks as Ariel and Eli hissed our a collective hush at her.

He waited for Leanne to say something but instead the car remained silent once again.

He chose not respond, figuring that it was either a slip up from the tot or he was hearing things.

Either way, his curiosity was peaked and he knew as soon as they got home he was going to be asking some very important questions.

\--

After the kids had wandered off in their separate directions he cornered Leanne in the living room, his hands soft on her hips as he stopped her by the Christmas tree.

“I know our daughter is a little, weird, but what was she babbling about earlier?” He wondered if Leanne would be honest with him.

“She's crazy.” Her eyes were soft and there was a hint of something in them that told him she was holding something back.

“Is she…?” He didn't think she was that crazy.

The girl had to be up to something.

“Ethan…” He had had so many questions about her behavior lately but he never would've attributed them to her being pregnant, again.

“Are we gonna have another baby?” He whispered his question as he reached out and pushed a curl behind her ear.

“I was gonna surprise you tomorrow.” She sounded so sad and he hated that the kids had ruined this for her.

“Did the kids know that?” But he knew that they would never do anything like this on purpose.

“No.” She whispered as she blinked back some tears. “They thought that I had already told you. I think they thought they were being sneaky but I've known that they knew for a few days now.”

“How long have you known?” He couldn't believe they were going to have another baby.

He was over the moon, elated, and everything in between.

“Two weeks.” She pulled away from him and reached down, picking up a package and handing it to him. “I'm fourteen weeks.”

“Wow.” That was a lot further along than she had been with Gracie when they had found out.

With her they had known instantly.

Everyone said they were crazy, but somehow, they had just known.

And sure enough, five weeks later a blood test confirmed it.

“Open it.” She patted the package she had picked up as he took it gently in his hands, his eyes falling to the object as he took a deep breath.

He carefully removed the paper from the box before letting it fall to floor.

He then pulled the top off of the small box while he held his breath.

“Are you serious?” He couldn't believe what was staring back at him.

Two perfectly folded onesies, one with the word ‘copy’ and one with the word ‘paste’, stared back at him and he blinked several times before lifting his gaze toward her.

“Two?!” He couldn't believe it, Gracie had been a handful herself, he couldn't imagine two at one time.

“Identical.” She whispered as she pulled the small sonogram picture out from underneath. “Girls.”

He let out a low whistle as he eyed the picture intently.

“Poor Eli.” He couldn't imagine being the only boy in a house full of girls, especially not when Gracie already walked all over him, despite the 6 year age gap.

“He's gonna be fine.” She removed the box from his hands and gently let it fall onto the chair behind them. “Are you gonna be okay is the question.”

“Me? Of course I'll be okay.” He was thrilled and excited and overjoyed.

But he was also terrified and confused and worried.

“Are you sure? Because I know we said no more…” He leaned down and kissed her softly before she could finish her sentence.

When he pulled away she was smiling up at him and he couldn't help but beam back down at her.

“This is truly the best Christmas gift you could have ever given me.” He whispered his words as he let his forehead fall against hers. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” Her reply was whispered as she closed her eyes, her arms wrapping around his neck as she snuggled into his embrace. “Does this make up for the shitty morning?”

“In so many ways.” He wrapped her up tight as he smiled, his heart and mind finally feeling at ease after the dramatic morning he had had to endure.

He was thankful that the day had been turned around and that now they could celebrate.

But more than anything, he couldn't wait until next year when they could celebrate with their two new little angels, who he knew would love the holiday just as much as he did.

**Author's Note:**

> *Please comment!


End file.
